Vote, Marathon Training, & Writing

Everyone,

Election Day is in 9 days! I cannot believe how close the polls have tightened and I need to stop looking at them because they cause anxiety. I think Kamala Harris still has the clearest path to victory and even though here might be a lot of Trump supporters not represented in the polls, I believe that there are still probably a quiet group of Republicans and others that are going to vote for Harris. I also believe as close as the race it is that it could very well be an electoral college blow-out and that Harris will take 4 or 5 of the swing states.

If you have not voted early, please consider doing so if you have the opportunity or make a plan to vote on election day. Zoe and I have a plan to vote next Friday. I am trying not to look at the polls or news too much. However, if you have the opportunity, get on YouTube or wherever and find Michelle Obama's speech last night at a rally in Michigan with Kamala Harris, do it and DO SOMETHING like she emphasizes again and again. Like always, Michelle Obama was amazing and plainly laid out what is at stake in this election. I am not sure if people on the Kamala Harris side are panicking too much and Donald Trump's side is too optimistic, but regardless of what is being said, we all have to do our part and vote even if we don't live in a swing state!

Moving on to some personal notes, I have finally started to taper for the Indianapolis Marathon coming up on November 9th. I did only a 9-mile long run this week, which is the first time it has been in the single digits for a while it seems like. Yesterday, I probably did the last most intense speed workout before the marathon. I did half of the Yasso 800s. So, I basically did 5 800 repeats with a 400 rest (jog/walk) in between. I was going to do at least 6 800s, but didn't want myself to get sick. I averaged about 3 minutes for each 800, which I can feel pretty good about that. I am confident that if I stay with the pacer in the marathon, I will be able to run my goal time of 3 hours 20 minutes.

In some other news, I am currently reading Tommy Orange's new novel Wondering Stars and it is interesting because it is like a prequel and a sequel at the same time of There There. His writing is very interesting and I must say at times confusing, but is also deep, sad, and beautiful.

I am finally almost done with all six seasons of White Collar on Netflix. I think I have three episodes left and know the ending is bittersweet, but I feel pretty invested in the characters. I heard that there is talks of making a reboot or probably a short one-season thing (in honesty, I have no idea), but can already say that I will watch it. I do not know what show I will try to watch next on my own, but whatever it is, it will probably take me like a year because I don't have time to binge a TV show for hours on end.

Finally, I have decided that I am going to try to self-publish on Amazon hopefully in the next couple of months (it would be nice if I could get it done before Christmas, but we will see). I have looked up on Amazon and basically I can publish for free an e-book and still retain all the rights to my novel (at least after 90 days). If it sells, then I can maybe invest a bit for some actual print copies to try to sell. I am not a fan of e-books myself, but if it gets me started, why not? So, yes I have the novel written, The Zumba Class - my first novel - (and a colleague and my mom are giving it a final read through for apparently some minor spelling and grammar issues that are present). I also have a brief description for it that I actually posted a while ago on here that I could use for the hook for the book. If for some chance, it sells well, it could be seen by an actual publishing company and go from there. However, I have no connections in the publishing world; a publisher, an agent, a publicist, or whoever else is not just going to randomly contact me about a novel that I have written that I have not done anything with and don't want to wait anymore. I want my works to have a chance to be read by other people and see if anything happens. I have gotten enough encouragement and positive support through feedback and advice on the content and that I have worked on, at least for The Zumba Class to believe that there are probably worse novels out there than mine. When I actually go to self-publish though, I guess I am really going to have to pay attention to the formatting and even design cover because apparently this can be a dead giveaway that it is not a novel to be taken seriously (even an eBook).

Okay, that is all I have for now. I hope that the presidential election goes okay and that everything I talked about on here like the marathon and self-publishing will be possible after the election. I pray that people wake up and really understand the potential consequences of this election and which candidate would really have the best for America in their heart. And as I have said before on here, do not get me wrong, I do not believe any candidate is perfect or ideal, but the choice seems rather black and white for me on this one!